Flo: The Complete Series

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All Rise...

If only he had his own catchphrase, Judge P.S. Colbert coulda been a contender.

The Charge

"Kiss your own damn grits!"

The Case

After four years of hash-slinging and scene-stealing on the hit sitcom Alice, Florence Jean Castleberry (Polly
Holliday, Gremlins) has retired her
apron and put Phoenix, Arizona in her rear view mirror.

The sassy redhead is motoring back to her native Texas, where a lucrative
hostessing job awaits. But it's been too long since she last saw the family home
in Cowtown, so Flo stops in to visit her mama (Sudie Bond, Johnny Dangerously) and prudish baby
sister Fran (Lucy Lee Flippin, Little
House On The Prairie). A surprise visit from childhood friend Miriam (Joyce
Bulifant) puts our gal in a mood to revisit the old haunts, starting with the
old Prairie Dog roadhouse, where, as teenagers, the girls got their first taste
of beer and other illicit thrills.

Unfortunately, the establishment hasn't held up as well as Flo's memories,
and it's changed hands a few times since she left town, besides. The current
owner, a venal banker named Farley Waters (Jim J. Baker) is desperate to sell
the rapidly deteriorating money pit, and before you can say, "We now pause
for station identification," the deed has transferred to our understandably
bewildered title character. After all, she was just passing through, but if
things work out, she's gonna stay awhile…

There's a nifty little theme song that says, "the door is always open
and the beer is always cold, down at Flo's Yellow Rose," so let's head in
and meet the rest of the gang. Hunky bartender Earl (Geoffrey Lewis, Every Which Way But Loose) and
chain-smoking city slicker Les Kincaid (Stephen Keep), who tickles the ivories,
both came with the place, while auto mechanic Randy Stumphill (Leo
Burmester)—a spiritual descendant of Goober Pyle—routinely wanders
in from the fillin' station across the street. Not to put too fine a point on
it, but the producers did see fit to hiring none other than George Lindsey to
play Randy's father in a second season episode.

Flo's father, Jarvis Castleman (Forrest Tucker, F Troop) pays a surprise visit to the
family he abandoned thirty-five years prior in the two-part "A Castleberry
Thanksgiving,"—which also introduces Flo's three brothers—a
very special Flo episode, indeed! (Sudie Bond's work here is stunning).
Other notable guest stars include singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton (who,
incidentally, sings "Flo's Yellow Rose"), appearing as himself in
"You Gotta Have Hoyt." G.W. Bailey (Major Crimes), does double-duty, playing
two completely different roles (in back-to-back episodes!), and Flo's former
employer, Mel Sharples, (Vic Tayback) drops by to offer some (unwanted) business
acumen in "What Are Friends For?"

The color consistency of these full-frame, half-hour segments is all over
the map, there are no subtitles (though the Mono sound is pretty darned good),
and like most of the manufactured-on-demand releases from Warner Archives, there
are no extras. Still, the biggest letdown is that Flo: The Complete
Series totals a measly twenty-nine episodes, ironically, because the same
geniuses at CBS who couldn't wait to spin off this breakout character from her
original series (and let's face it, Alice never fully recovered after her
exit) were just as careless about Flo's own show: moving its slot four times
within a year, and then canceling it for failing to establish a large
audience.

Like most folks, I missed Flo back in the day, and I've long assumed
that—based on its quick demise—here was just another spinoff that
never should have been (anyone remember The Tortellis? Joey?), but I was pleasantly surprised to
discover a fledgling sitcom, peopled by likeable characters, and, ironically,
imbued with the same comic charm of the series it spun off from. I honestly
don't expect the series to get a better release than this one, so I'd advise
devoted Alice fans to invest in this lost TV treasure.